Connections
by ARandomTimeOfDay
Summary: A story for hidekane week where all 7 prompts are the chapters of the story
1. Day 1: Wanna be friends

" **Wanna be friends."**

Haise looks up from his novel, the cup of coffee in his other hand stills its tilt at his lips. Haise is now, unabashedly staring at the newcomer whom, without hesitation, took the free seat across Haise's table for two. The ghoul investigator can hardly believe the nerve of the stranger with the bleach blonde hair.

Haise swallows what little coffee he has left in his mouth, a feeling of deja vu hits him strongly.

"I don't even know who you are?" Haise questions, but it feels hes questioning himself more than the strange man across from him. The blond stranger laughs before bringing his hand upwards to scratch at the back of his neck as his cheeks begin to darken into a slight shade of pink.

"Riiiiight… I get ahead of myself sometimes. I'm Yoshi, Yoshi Chika. First name Yoshi last name Chika. A lot of people pronounce it yoh-shi when its actually yo-shi, I think that may be from the Mario creature Yoshi, and oh! Look at me I'm rambling! Haha!" He begins to darken into a more reddish tone before coughing and looking away. "Anyway… What's you're name?" The Yoshi questions.

"You ask people to be your friend before you even know who they are?" Haise asks, taken aback in disbelief. How dense can one person be? "That seems to be a dangerous method of gaining friends."

"Haha, yeah. Is it working though." He asks, looking back to Haise with a hopeful, puppy-dog look in his honey brown eyes that makes it hard for the ghoul investigator to look away.

"Well I am still talking to you, so I suppose it is. My name is Haise Sasaki."

Suddenly Haise is surprised with a loud bang, Yoshi has slammed his hand on the table and is proclaiming how beautiful Haise's name is. A few waitresses and patrons of the coffee shop are giving dirty looks their way. Fearing being banned for his favorite coffee house Haise leans across the table to grab at Yoshi's other hand, only to grasp at loose clothing. Haise pulls away, quickly spouting an apology to Yoshi whom has stopped his cheering to look at his jacket where Haise grabbed him.

"Oh yeah," Yoshi says, looking over at his arm, a somber look passing over his face as he pushes the sleeve back to reveal his arm only extended to his elbow, his entire forearm and hand gone. "I guess it looks like my hand is just under the table if I leave it like that."

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice. I didn't want to draw your attention to it." Haise stutters, rambling out an apology with reddened cheeks to match Yoshi's previous ones.

"Ah don't worry about it, you didn't notice so how could you know." Yoshi waves him off. "You can make it up to me by catching a movie with me."

"B-But didn't you just say it was ok?" Haise protests. Yoshi laughs again and Haise almost feel relief that the smile is back on the blonds face.

"Yeah… but it doesn't hurt to pay a guy back over his hurt feelings."

"Fine," Haise gives in. "We'll go see a movie. What time and when?"

"Wednesday at six?" Yoshi asks.

"Can't, work."

"Thursday at 8?"

"Can't, work again?"

"Okay then… whats good for you?" Haise thinks for a moment.

"Ah I think I'm free all Saturday? I'll just give you my number and you can text me to be sure."

"Wow, giving me your number already. What fast friends we've become." Yoshi muses and passes Haise his phone to type his number into.

"I don't do this often. I just feel bad about..."

"May arm? Well that just makes this feel like a pity date."

"It kind of is..."

"Well… I'll take a pity pal date over no pity pal date."

Haise laughs at Yoshi's joke.

"You know… I think we might actually work out Yoshi." Haise says to Yoshi, whom Haise thinks has a strange look pass his face for a moment.

"Yeah…" Yoshi drifts off. "For sure."


	2. Day 2: Protecting each other

Haise enjoyed the movie with Yoshi more than he thought he would. The movie itself was plain, but he found Yoshi's bad commentary and the expressions that crossed his face as the killer, a sadistic ghoul, murdered the cheerleaders boyfriend, or the look of surprise that consumed him as the cheesy film revealed the cheerleader was a ghoul herself all along.

' _He looks kinda cute._ ' Haise thinks to himself before giving a slight slap to his face to pull him out of such a thought.

' **You barely even know him.** ' The dark voice of his subconscious calls forward to him.

' _It doesn't mean he isn't handsome._ ' Haise retorts back, before focusing back to the movie to see the cheerleader stand over the corpse of the other ghoul, mournfully look at a photo of her and her, now deceased, boyfriend before looking up to face the horde of CCG officers that awaited her fate.

" _I'll be with you again soon, Yuki._ " She whispers as the theater screen fades to black, and a feminine scream echos through the theater as the credits begin to roll.

"Damn Haise," Yoshi turns to him, eyes wide and slight tears in them. "That's so sad, what happened to her."

Haise is surprised with Yoshi's empathy for a ghoul, if it wasn't for Yoshi's amputated arm he would have been a little suspicious of Yoshi's humanity. Not many humans openly empathized with ghouls to people they barely knew. Haise feels himself warm a little.

"I guess, but she was a ghoul after all, and the CCG was called."

"Yeah," Yoshi pouts and rises from his seat, Haise following quickly as they began to exit the theater. "But I can't help but feel sad, ya know?"

"I guess, the story itself is sad. A girl cant protect her lover and he dies, and after she attains her revenge she rejoins her lover in the afterlife. A bitter sweet tragedy." Haise muses to Yoshi as the exit the theater into the cold night air. Yoshi shivers.

"Oh?" Haise notes the shiver. "Do you want my jacket?" He asks, preparing to slide of the jacket he was wearing.

"Oh no, it's not the cold… it's just… I **hate** tragedy's." Yoshi confesses, surprising Haise just a little, albeit he soon realized the fun-loving man probably wouldn't be into tragedy. He shrugs his jacket back on as they each continue on the walk a block away to the car park they both parked at.

Continuing to talk as they walked neither of the two noticed the intoxicated woman stumbling towards them until she latched onto Haise's arm.

" _Helllllllo handsome~"_ She slurs, as she tugs on Haise's arm. " _Wanna go somewhere, just you. And. Me!_ " She pops out her words and tugs harder on Haise's arm, but he can see through her game. A ghoul scouting out her next meal. It fills Haise with an uncharacteristic anger when his subconscious pipes up with the thought, ' **She could have just as easily picked Yoshi.'**

"Yoshi," Haise speaks up, giving a tight lipped smile to the blond next to him. "I'm going to make sure she gets home okay, or at least to a phone. You go on home ahead. I had a great time tonight. I'll text you later yeah?" Yoshi looks hesitant to let Haise go on, as if he could almost sense the bad intentions behind this ghouls intoxicated ruse. It made Haise's heart skip a beat.

"Uh… yeah, sure man. Get home safe then..." Yoshi finally concedes before giving Haise a wave and continuing to the car park.

"Now… lets get you home." Haise's tight lipped smile never moving from his face as the ghoul lets out a " _For suuuuuure."_ and grips Haise's arm tighter.

" _Oh~._ " The ghoul says a short while of walking later " _I just remembered its muuuuch quicker through here honey~_ " She pulls Haise into an alley and Haise instinctively knows whats about to happen. Further into the ally he hears the familiar sound of a kagune releasing, and hears the wisp through the air of it rushing towards him. In turn Haise releases his own kagune to deflect her attack.

"Oh?" The ghoul says, her voice amused. "I picked another ghoul. What a silly mistake I made. I wonder why I couldn't smell you?~"

"Well would that be," Haise folds his glasses into his jacket pocket and flashes his solitary kakugan. "Due to this?"

"Ew what kind of mutation is that? And put those rinkaku away, I'm not here to play today~"

"Well..." Haise cracks his fingers. " **Neither am I.** "

"Such a shame really~" she coos. "You were such a handsome boy after all. Really hard to find ghouls like you~" She releases her koukaku, it forms into a thick, sharp rod, and lunges forward at Haise. He dodges magnificently with grace.

"Is that all?" He mocks, only to be met with another lunge from the koukaku wielder. One of Haise's rinkaku stabs itself into her leg and she screams as she collapses to the ground.

"You'll… regret that." She grits out as Haise raises another rinkaku to finish her off. He instead hears fast foot steps running towards him. Haise turns his head and braces himself for an attack from a ghoul, but doesn't meet one. Instead, he sees a rush of blond before he is pushed to the floor. The female ghoul lets out a blood curdling scream as she yells, "Hinoka you fucking idiot! You hit me!".

Haise first sees a panicked looking Yoshi, sitting a top him with his hand on Haise's chest pushing him up and off of the CCG investigator. The Haise sees the female ghoul, with a shard of kagune sticking out her chest. Fast approaching her is another woman, with a look of concern splashed across her face.

"Umi!" She cries out before kneeling besides the injured ghoul. She then turns to look at Haise with death in her eyes. "I'll kill you!" She cries out before running towards him with all the speed a ghoul with an ukaku could muster. She then lets the shards of her kagune fly as she approaches Haise. Haise crushes all that were aimed for him, but some weren't. Yoshi lets out a sickening cry as his knee buckles from the pain of his leg being impaled with shards.

"Shit," Hinoka huffs, hard out of breath. "I wont miss next time." She warns, but Haise isn't listening. His heartbeat slowed and his blood ran hot at the sight of Yoshi in pain.

" **We've got t m."** Both Haise and his subconscious speak aloud at the same moment in time as Haise starts to walk forward. He then, viciously impales the ukaku ghoul, killing her.

" **NOOOOOOOOO.** " The injured koukaku ghoul screams as she stands, to make a weak attempt at attacking Haise before he decapitates her.

Haise then looks over at Yoshi who look a little green but not afraid of him.

"Ah, Haise, can I get a little help please. I cant walk."

"You're not scared?" He asks, and steps cautiously towards Yoshi, who only grins back at Haise.

"I'm not, I knew all along. I'm pretty perceptive you know." Haise begins to laugh as he reaches towards Yoshi and lifts him up bridal style to carry him. Yoshi's arm wraps around his neck and Haise ignores the thought that tells him Yoshi's arm feels nice around his neck.

"Don't worry," Haise says to Yoshi. "I'll get you help."

"Alright…" Yoshi says, his eyes starting to droop and his arm starting to loosen. "Thank you Kaneki..."


	3. Day 3: Reminiscing

_All he could see was a white abyss, never ending and ever expanding. The first thing he notices about himself is his leg_ _ **hurts**_ _. Looking down he sees blood, it flows down his calf from his knee. He's scraped it, badly._

" _Ah, look what you've done to yourself. This is not ok, there's so much blood! Are you ok?" A voice calls to him, panicked, from beside him. He looks over, a young boy has materialized. He has black hair and frightened gray eyes. The boy clutches a book to himself tightly as he eyes the mass of blood dripping down. An instant feeling of protectiveness rushes through him. He wants to protect the boy, to comfort him, not wanting to add to the stresses of this boys life. He feels a large grin pass upon his face, one he knows will be the first of many to come._

" _ **Ha ha, I'm fine Kaneki. Don't worry about me.**_ _"_

 _The boy relaxes slightly, his fear turning to a mild concern as his gaze lingers at the blood one last time._

" _Well if you're sure..." The boy trails off, and he notices the boy growing more and more transparent before finally disappearing. Now hes left alone in the white, where the only colour is the red of blood pouring down his bleeding leg._

 _Xx_

Haise is worried, Yoshi won't wake up. He's lying down the back of Haise's car as he speeds down the streets towards a hospital. Haise knows his first priority should be getting his friend to medical help, but the dark voice of his subconscious rises up and down in his head like the waves of high tide.

" **Who do you think he called out too before he passed out? Do YOU know who Kaneki is?** " It mocks, clawing at Haise, giving him a headache.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Haise hisses aloud, digging his nails into the steering wheel as he starts to hyperventilate.

" **He was thanking you, the real you,** _ **me.**_ "

"Not now! Not now!"

" **You don't even know who he is. Yoshi i E.** "

"Yoshi's life is in danger, if you don't shut up I wont be able to get him help in time." The voice is silent for a moment, as if considering whether taunting Haise was worth the risk.

" **I love him, more than a lie like you ever could.** "

The voice remains silent after that. Haise's headache lifts considerably to a light throb. He stops hyperventilating. He can focus on getting Yoshi to safety.

Xx

 _The blood still pours, it makes a trail behind him as he drags himself along. It seemed the further he went the worse his injury became. It seemed like an eternity of walking in the whiteness before he came across the boy again, only he appeared to be older, a man now, and was knelt down crying. As he approached, the man looked up, one eye flashed a chilling black and red._

" _I… I… I'm fine." The man says, tears rushing down his face. Approaching the man, he kneels to match him. Gripping the mans hand he brings it to his lips._

" _ **Of course you're fine Kaneki, but I'm here if you want to talk anyway. I always will be.**_ _" The man nods back and, still teary, leans forward to kiss him. The man, still sobbing, opens his mouth to allow the others tongue to slide in. It does. The man then clamps down, biting the others tongue clean of before pulling back to chew at it._

" _You always know how to make me feel better." The man says as he chews before swallowing the others tongue. He, now unable to speak to the man, holds his hand over his mouth to prevent blood from toppling out. It spills between his fingers and onto the ground, yet the man seems unfazed. He holds a thumbs up with his free hand to the man, whom finally stops his tears and smiles, before fading away again, to leave him with only the white and the red._

Xx

Haise swerves, narrowly avoiding a pedestrian. He curses aloud before taking a sharp turn into an emergency vehicle zone and parking. He exits the car and throws open the back door. Yoshi is white and still unconscious. He stirs as Haise lifts him into his arms again and mumbles the name 'Kaneki' again. Haise can almost feel his subconscious voice wanting to torment him, yet to his surprise, remains silent. A security officer approaches to chaise Haise on where he's parked but backs away, whether thats due to perhaps the amount of blood he saw covering the too-pale Yoshi or the wild, threatening look in Haise's eye, only he would know. Instead the security officer closes Haise's back door and lets him carry Yoshi inside the hospital.

Entering the emergency department Haise stumbles over to the triage nurse.

"Hello how can I- Dear lord!" The nurse says and picks up a phone and quickly dials a number. "Yes, we're gonna need a bed and a doctor here quick!" Putting down the phone he turns to Haise. "What Happened?"

"Two ghouls attacked us, my friend got hit in the leg with ukaku shards. He's been bleeding non stop for around 10 minutes and unconscious for about 8 minutes."

"Shit!" The nurse hisses. "Do you know his blood type?"

"Ah- No."

The nurse takes a breath, as other nurses wheel a bed in. Reluctantly, against his greater want, he places Yoshi within the bed. The pristine white sheets turn red alarmingly fast. Haise looks over to see the nurse relaying the information to whom Haise assumes to be the doctor. The nurses roll Yoshi away and the triage nurse stops Haise as he begins to follow.

"Your friend is going into surgery to clean and close the wound. You can't follow I'm sorry. Please wait out here for your friend while we try and contact his family. Do you know his next of Kin?"

"No."

"His name?"

"Yoshi Chika."

"Date of birth?"

"No."

"Age?"

"No."

"Do you know anything about him apart from his name?"

" **No.** " "No."

Xx

 _The white abyss is slowly turning into a red sea. He can now hear things within it. Muffled voices, words unintelligible. Machines beeping. Screaming. Crying. Yelling. It was all but consuming him. Still he continued forward, until he found the man again. The change in the man this time was the stark white hair which clashed greatly with the black of his outfit._

" _Oh, you're back? Why?" The man asks. The other opens his mouth to reply but only blood spills forward._

" _I guess you can't say anything after I ate your tongue. The price of keeping secrets is tough huh?" The man looks around sheepishly, before looking back at the other._

" _I wanted to die you know, I was always ready to die. Yet you were always there by my side. Hiding all your pain, all your suffering, even putting your life on the line for_ _ **me**_ _. I wish I could hear why." A rumbling comes from the man and his kakugan flashes._

" _Ah I'm so, so, so hungry." The other approaches the man, the loss of mass amounts of blood hits him all at once and the other falls into the mans arms weakly. The other raises his bloodied and to the man's hair, smearing red across the white and downwards as the others hand falls to the mans cheek._

" _I know what you're thinking. 'Eat, please devour me. I don't mind. So long as you_ _ **live**_ _.' You're so selfish. Not caring how I would feel if you were gone. But I'm so, so, so, so, so, hungry. Maybe just_ _ **one**_ _bite couldn't hurt. If you'd let me."_

 _The other nods, and the man moves the others hand from his cheek to his lips. The man gives a soft kiss to the knuckles before him._

" _Ah, thank you so much_ _ **Hide**_ _."_

 _Then the man takes a bite._

Xx

Haise watches anxiously from beside the bed as Yoshi's eyes fly open. After 4 hours in surgery and a further 2 hours unconscious Haise's friend suddenly awakens in slight alarm.

"Yoshi, it's okay. I'm right here." Haise soothes stepping up from his seat beside the bed.

"Wha- Haise?" Yoshi asks, a little disorientated.

"Yeah. It's me. We're at a hospital. You got shot in the leg with shards-"

"-From an ukaku ghoul, yeah I remember it all."

"Even-"

"Yeah, even about _you_."

Haise stiffens, preparing for a frightened rejection. As much as he'd like to admit it Yoshi had _somehow_ grown on Haise, and it would really hurt him if Yoshi was scared of him.

"It's okay, man. I'm not scared. I am a little tired though." Yoshi assures Haise, letting his fears rest for the moment. Haise chuckles.

"Well, you did just get shot in the leg."

Yoshi now laughs.

"Haha, Yeah, I guess I did, **Haise**."


End file.
